Using Antenna Toolbox to Model Custom 3D Antenna... Best method? Can pcbStack work for this?

Hello,

Short version: Is it possible to model a highly custom, 3-dimensional antenna using the Antenna toolbox? The custom antenna features seem to only support 2 dimensions.

Long version: I would like to model a large antenna that extends in X, Y, and Z dimensions and has multiple feed points. I have checked the antenna catalog and unfortunately, the antenna class closest to what I want does not have enough parameters/degrees of freedom to accurately represent my antenna. I have also tried to create my antenna using antenna.shape and the union/intersection/subtraction functions to get multiple custom 2D structures, and then rotate each into the plane that I would like and merge them all together. This however, fails at the final merge and tells me that the boolean operators (+/-/&) only support shapes in the X-Y plane and Z=0. I've also looked at the customAntennaGeometry and customAntennaMesh classes, but again, these only seem to allow for 2D meshes or geometries. The only class that I've found that seems to allow custom 3D modeling is the pcbStack class. Would it be valid for me to model my large scale antenna (dimensions on the order of feet) using this PCB class?

Any other suggestions on better ways to model a 3D antenna? I know making a 3D antenna is possible because the Antenna toolbox has built-in 3D antennas like the cloverleaf, the horn, the helix, etc.

Thanks!

JC

Answer 1

[Shashank Kulkarni]

Hello JC,

In 20a version, we have aaded a customAntennaStl. In this case you can import an STL file (arbitrary 3D geometry) in Antenna Toolbox, create a feed and model it as an antenna.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Shashank

[JohnathanC]

This is great news, exactly what I was looking for!

Thanks!

[James Monaco]

Were you able to get this working? I can't seem to get it to work with my own STL files, I suspect it's because I have a closed geometry instead of a flat geometry like the default matlab antennas.

What STL designer did you use to create your custom antenna?